God, bad and ugly

A new survey about public perception of government performance conducted by Massey University, based on 1,350 responses from 18+ year-olds, shows a mixed bag of attitudes.

Good; Perceptions of the role of government have changed relatively little over the past 10 years, except for a sharp decline in the expectation that the Government should provide a job for everyone who wants one.
Most people favour cuts in Government spending......

Bad;.....but there is strong support for more spending in health, education and

Good; .....and law enforcement. The belief that low and middle-income earners pay too much tax is widespread and has increased since 1997, most sharply amongst middle-income earners. New Zealanders have liberal views on actions designed to challenge the Government. Most believe organising public meetings, protest marches and demonstrations should be permitted. Even when people with extreme views want to overthrow the Government, most believe they should be allowed to publish books or hold public meetings to express these views.

Bad; There is strong support for removing GST on fresh fruit and vegetables and for more regulation of food advertising, particularly advertising to children.

And just plain ugly; Concerns about smoking, drinking and obesity show up in strong support for interventions designed to reduce the undesirable effects of cigarettes, alcohol and unhealthy food. Nearly half support extending the smoking ban to include all public places, and 75 per cent support returning the drinking age to 20.